How do I control the location of popups in a chm topic?

[juliaHal]

I am working with RoboHelp 2015 (12.0.4.460) I have some legacy projects for chm help. I don't actually know how old the project files are. There are images in the topics with  hyperlinks to other topics. The links are displayed in auto-sizing popups.

In one project, everything works just fine. When you click the hotspot, the popup opens adjacent to the image.

In the other project, when you click an image hotspot, the popup  opens at the top left of the topic pane. That's awkward, but usable, if  the original topic is short enough. But most of these topics are long, and the popups are off the visible frame. When you try to scroll to them obviously they are dismissed. So that content is unreachable. I have compared the html code for the image maps and the eHlpDhtm.js files in each project. There doesn't seem to be any difference that could explain the different behavior. 

Interestingly, the location issue relates only to popups called by image maps. If there are other links to popup topics in the text, they behave as expected. And if you open one of those regular popups in a topic, and then open one from an image map, the popup is anchored at the location of the regular popup.

All suggestions are welcome.  Thank you.

[Peter Grainge]

In the absence of anyone responding to this one, I suggest you contact Adobe Support, it's free.

There was an issue like this some years back but I thought it was in a much older version of RoboHelp. Maybe Adobe can dig out the cause.

I guess it might be worth creating a new project with one topic to see if that replicates the issue.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[juliaHal]

Thanks Peter, I will contact Adobe support. That's a good idea.

I have many projects, some new, some legacy, and this is the only one where I am aware of the problem. I have considered recreating this project and hoping that would somehow eliminate the problem, but the project is huge and intricate.

[juliaHal]

The source of the problem seems to be conflicts between the javascript for the popups and other javascripts on the same page for expanding text and for drop down text. Since I don't know much about javascript, I'm taking the brute force approach of converting the drop down text to regular text and deleting the expanding text. It's not the ideal solution, but at least the pop ups will work.

[Peter Grainge]

I wonder if generating the output as WebHelp and then running the script to convert the WebHelp to a CHM would get round the problem.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[juliaHal]

What an interesting idea. I will give it try before I go converting all the drop down text.

Thanks!

[juliaHal]

I didn't realize the script  isn't part of RoboHelp. The business process for acquiring new software (even free software) makes it not worth pursuing this idea. Other reservations I have include preserving context sensitive links  and wrestling with the source control system. Sadly, I have already spent more time on this than I should.

Thanks again for the suggestion. I wish I could try it.

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

The script is part of RoboHelp. Look in Tools > Scripts and look for Convert WebHelp to CHM.It will take less than one minute to try it.

I believe the CSH will be OK but the test will not affect your existing CHM if you have to revert to that. As to source control, you have to check things out to create the CHM you are using. All that changes here is you have some additional files to check back in, as far as I can see.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[juliaHal]

Brilliant! it worked!  I haven't tested context sensitivity yet, but I will do that in a bit.

I hope to make some tweaks, though.The resulting  chm uses a different style sheet. I'm not going to sweat that if there is no easy way to fix it, but I'd like to try. Is there documentation for this script somewhere? I tried the RoboHelp help and a google search and didn't find anything that looked right.

Thank you

[juliaHal]

Context sensitivity is preserved! Thanks again. I'm going to post a new question about documentation for this script.

[Peter Grainge]

Your topic CSS should not be changed. The output will of course look like the WebHelp skin but that does not affect the CSS. Check your settings.

On documentation, follow this link Webinars – Adobe Technical Communication Blog and search for scripting.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[juliaHal]

OK, thanks.